DON'T WRITE ANYTHING IN THIS FIELD

Effectively Communicate Your Brand’s Value

Executive Summary

Aha Media Group (Aha Media) provided content strategy, brand strategy and content development for the redesign of the Time Inc. website. In light of their successful spinoff from Time Warner in 2014, Time Inc.’s CEO, Joseph A. Ripp, called for a new site that better communicated the brand’s unique value.

The Challenge

“Time” may be a household name, but the brand still conjures strong associations to the magazine. The goal was to develop content that spoke powerfully to the global influence of this leading media company, which represents more than 90 brands, 50 global offices, signature franchises and one-of-a-kind events. How do you explain an entity as big as Time Inc.? Each one of their brands — from Real Simple to PEOPLE to Travel & Leisure — knows their readers and how to communicate with them. But what about the TIME Inc. brand itself? The Aha Media team was excited to take on this challenge.

Aha Media’s Approach

Working alongside design strategy firm Global Moxie, Aha Media provided content strategy and copywriting for this influential media company during an important time of change and flux. After their first workshop with key Time Inc. stakeholders, Aha Media captured results in an editorial toolkit that was swiftly reviewed and approved.

Develop “Personas”

Clarify to whom we are speaking and the desired experience of those specific audiences on the site.

Clarify and Shape Brand Perception

Explore messaging statements that articulate new brand positioning goals.

Set Voice and Tone Guidelines

Guide content strategy and development and to ensure consistent messaging and SEO throughout the site.

Working with the Aha Media team gave us a solid content strategy that informed our design and our messaging.

Abby McInerney

Director, Corporate Brand

The Results

Aha Media’s writers dove in, crafting content that was informed by the collaborative and strategic exercises that came before it. Outcomes of the project include:

Key Messaging

The resulting content projected key messages — in particular, that Time Inc. is a forward-thinking and influential global media company that is setting the tone for today’s culture in print, on the web, on-the-go, and through unique live events.

Collaboration

Aha Media worked collaboratively with the team at Global Moxie to ensure a symbiotic relationship between content and user experience, populating the clean and powerful new design with bold claims to value.

Brand Influence

Our messaging emphasized Time Inc.’s reach across brands and platforms, elevating the company from lingering, anachronistic associations and enforcing the influential media company’s role as both a storyteller and shaper of today’s culture.

Lessons Learned

Develop a content strategy before mapping a design so that designers create a vision that matches the messaging.
Use an editorial toolkit to get all writers on the same page about who they are talking to, what they are trying to say and how they should say it.
Involve the leadership team in creating personas and messaging — they know best what they want their brand to look and feel like.